Here Are the Most Overpaid Charity CEOs in America

Charity Navigator, the website of choice for determining which charities operate most effectively, has released its annual study of CEO pay at charity groups. Only 11 charities in America pay their leaders over $1 million. Here they are.

We should note that Charity Navigator is hardly some witch-hunting band of socialists; in fact, the group says in its report, "we want donors to understand and appreciate that the top nonprofit leaders, those who are sought after for their ability to manage multi-million to multi-billion dollar institutions and who are tasked with the mammoth goal of helping to make the world a better place, command significant salaries. On the other hand, in our opinion, it is evident that seven-figure salaries do not seem warranted, even in the largest sized charities." The median CEO pay at the more than 3,000 charities studied is $126,000. For large charities, defined as those with more than $13.5 million in annual expenses, the median pay was $244,000.

With that context in mind, here are the only charities that pay their leaders more than $1 million per year:

Of the 3,929 charities included in the study, only 11 paid their top executive more than $1 million (in our last study that looked at 2010 data there were 6). All 11 are large charities (total expenses >$13.5 million) that are located in the South (3), Northeast (3), Mid-Atlantic (2), Pacific West (1) , Mountain West (1) and Southwest (1). Furthermore, this list is comprised of 3 Education charities (American University, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, The Rockefeller University) 1 Arts, Culture, Humanities charities (Metropolitan Museum of Art), 2 Public Benefit charities (The Heritage Foundation, National Center for Missing & Exploited Children), 3 Human Services charities (Boys & Girls Clubs of America, Goodwill Southern California, Miami Jewish Health Systems) and 2 Health charities (National Jewish Health, Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation).

Use this information as you will. If you're interested in getting the maximum amount of lifesaving benefit for your money (rather than helping to subsidize a seven-figure salary for a CEO), here is a list of charities you may wish to look into.